Vulvitis

I have a married friend who has been suffering with vulvitis & vaginitis for over a year now--talked to her last night and she is so discouraged that it has hung on this long. She has tried conventional therapies and found no relief, only support groups that discouraged her more than anything and women who have been "living with it" for years. This summer she visited a natural doctor and pursued the "eradicating parasites" route by electronic zapping, as well as herbal therapy. Right now she is zapping 2x/day and taking Morinda. In the last few months, she has taken Black Walnut extract with artemesia and cloves to eliminate any parasites. I think she has also tried Dong Quai.
The pain & burning from vaginitis is gone, but she still has swelling in her labia that is quite severe--you can imagine the strain this puts on her 17-yr happy marriage! It seems to be a "two steps forward, one step back" type of recovery.
I keep thinking that the answer is so simple. Last night we talked for a long time about colon cleansing, which she has not tried, and eliminating dairy products for 3 wks to see if this could be an allergic reaction. Also, she does not take a multi-vitamin, but just C and E, so I suggested B-complex and calcium, as well as boosting the immune system with mixed carotenes, selenium, astragalus, & grape seed extract. Do you have any other suggestions?
Have you ever run into this condition before? I have never heard of such a severe case! She is 39 yrs old & also has checked her laundry detergent and underclothing, etc, to make sure she is not aggravating the situation. Last night she cried alot and my heart just ached for all she has suffered. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or can steer me toward someone who can help.

A common cause of vulvitis is the use of tampons. Other causes are: anaemia, polyps, allergy, shingles, stress, inflammation of the womb, tight jeans or trousers, man-made fibre underpants rather than cotton, pubic lice, irritations from chemicals from feminine hygiene sprays, scented or coloured toilet tissue, detergents and hot tub chemicals, nutritional imbalance or hormonal imbalance.
Herbal treatment includes:
* Garlic - 3 capsules every night.
* an external wash of Thyme and Comfrey root: steep one third of an ounce of dried thyme and two thirds of an ounce of dried comfrey root in one cup of boiling water for 15 minutes
* Plantain, Calendula and Licorice, taken internally to heal and soothe inflammation
* Vitex agnus castus, first thing in the morning, to balance hormones
The diet should be high in whole foods to provide the nutrients required for healing. Whole grains are rich in vitamin B-complex. Avocado is healing, and contains beta-carotene and vitamins D & E.